Cuisine à la bière owes its existence as a recognised style of cooking to the French and Belgians, people at the goegraphical meeting point of the passions for good food and fine beers. In recent years, several chefs elsewhere in Europe, and more especially in the United States, have taken up the idea with gusto. For them, wine no longer has a monopoly, either as an accompaniment or an ingredient.

Particular styles of beer have been chosen as accompaniments to certain dishes because their flavours either complement or contrast; regional foods that traditionally are served with beer, or simply go well with a local brew, have been rediscovered; and dishes have been created to highlight the use of beer as an ingredient. Beer can be used as a marinade; to tenderize, baste or glaze meat; as the basis for soups, stews, sauces and mustards; and to aerate or leaven soufflés, doughs and puddings.

Edouard Manet's model Bellot is said to have held monthly banquets featuring dishes made from beer as early as the 1870s. Escoffier proposed several such dishes in his classic La Guide Culinaire of 1903, but the true diversity of beer cuisine was not set out until the work of Raoul Morleghem who cooked for heads of state in Belgium during the 1950s. His work led to a comprehensive book of 300 recipes, compiled by more than 20 Belgian chefs, called La Cuisine au pays de Gambrinus. In 1960, a group of French gastronomes founded the order of the Chope d'Or (golden tankard), to further 'the gastronomic appreciation of beer'. Over the years, their events have been illuminated by such stars as Paul Bocuse, the Troisgros brothers, and Emile Jung.

In 1984, four Belgian chefs, with six Michelin stars between them, prepared a lunch featuring ten beers at the Pierre Hotel, New York. Cuisine à la bière had arrived in the New World.

In 1989, a more modern book, called Cuisine légère à toutes les Bières, was produced by Michel David, who has made a speciality of this cuisine in several restaurants in Brussels. Other less elaborate books have appeared in the English-speaking world. The odd restaurant in Paris or Brussels emphasizes cuisine à la bière, but many more feature one or two such dishes on the menu. The same menu is true from Mayfair to Manhattan, with beer dinners a popular event at restaurants such as Windows on the World, New York's Brasserie and Nosmo King.

At its simplest, cuisine à la bière is based on a solid foundation. Beer, like any drink, is a part of our gastronomic heritage. Beer itself is regarded as a food in Bohemia and Bavaria, and is a normal element of everyday meals in those regions. The northern French and Belgians have a richer cuisine, and love to unwrap and uncork a beery bottle of something special. In England, Evelyn Waugh recalled having beer with his breakfast at Oxford (did not Somerset Maugham say that the beginning of the day was the only time the British ate well?), and several breweries made dinner ales until recent years. Bass occasionally revives the habit with a fruity-tasting special brew.

Excerpt taken from 'Michael Jackson's Beer Companion'